It is now generally recognized in medical circles that antioxidants play an important role in nutrition and in the prevention of certain diseases, such as macular degeneration of the eye. Accordingly, it is now routinely recommended that individuals consume a “recommended daily allowance” of antioxidants to maintain good health.
Among the important antioxidants are the carotenoids, of which the most commonly known is beta-carotene. Other common carotenoids are the oxygenated form of beta-carotene, known as lutein, and another oxygenated carotenoid found in relatively low amounts in green plants and algae, zeaxanthin.
While the carotenoids are known to have important health effects, these compounds are currently manufactured by expensive processes requiring extraction of the compounds from a natural source, and subsequent purification. As a result, for example, lutein, which is an abundant plant and algal carotenoid, is currently sold for about $50,000 per gram. Zeaxanthin, produced from certain cyanobacteria, has a market price of approximately $100,000 per gram. These prices do not reflect scarcity, but rather the high cost of manufacture.
There is a great need for an inexpensive source of carotenoids to promote human health, such as the treatment of hives and other dermatoses, and prevent certain types of eye disorders, such as macular degeneration.